Zhuangzi

 Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings with selections from traditional commentaries translated by Brook Ziporyn, 238 pages

Zhuangzi was a late 4th century B.C. Daoist philosopher. Zhuangzi's writings have a very poetical style, especially if contrasted with the Daodejing. His writings and philosophy can be hard to define because they have elements of multiple ideas. His writings show him as a mystic, a skeptic, a metaphysical monist, a spirit-body dualist, an intuitionist, a theist, a deist, an agnostic, a relativist, a fatalist, a nihilist, a linguistic philosopher, and an existentialist. 

However, some themes that can be found in his writings include: relative magnitudes in time and space, the emptiness of words, the imperative of self-preservation, and the non-distinction between life and death. 

Readers can choose how to take in this book. They can read just the Inner chapters or any chapters or jump around. The commentaries are optional but can add meaning. I liked this book and recommend it to those interested in Chinese philosophy or those interested in Daoism.

The Path

The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life by Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh, 204 pages


Puett is a professor of Chinese History. This book is based on a popular class that Puett teaches at Harvard.

This book covers Confucius and as-if rituals, Mencius and the capricious world, Laozi and generating worlds, The Inward Training and being like a spirit, Zhuangzi and a world of transformation, as well as Xunzi and putting pattern on the world.

One idea that stuck out for me is the malleable self. In the West, we tend to think that more of our self is set than necessarily is. The second idea is the capricious world. Despite knowing that the future is unpredictable, we act as if it is and when our plans don't work out it negatively affects us. Both of these ideas can influence how we think.

Unlike Greek philosophers who have distinctly different ideas, these Chinese philosophers have very similar ideas which can make it harder to remember which is which. In fact, Zhuangzi is a Daoist philosopher (Laozi) and Xunzi is a Confucian philosopher. They add to or refine the schools of philosophy rather than diverging from it.

There is an interview with the authors in the back of the book. They were asked what was the biggest challenge to writing the book. They said it was, "...to write complex ideas as clearly and simply as you can." I think they simplified too much in trying to appeal to a wider audience and lost some of what must make the class and subject so interesting. I didn't feel that there was enough depth to the ideas of the different philosophers. I would have preferred that this book have more depth rather than having to seek the original works of the philosophers or other sources. Despite it's shortcomings I liked this book and thinks it conveys some important wisdom.